I have been working with small Windows 8.1 tablets, seeing how well they work with the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and the cheaper "RTL-SDR" dongles and a variety of software. So far, things have looked pretty good - as long as I don't run lots of these programs at one time. I wanted to install the FUNcube Dashboard on one of my tablets, but on the tablet's 64 Gb microSD card that appears as the D: drive in the tablet instead of the smaller C: drive in the tablet. The Dashboard installer said I had to install it to a hard drive, which in this case was limited to the C: drive. The Dashboard doesn't take up much space, but some of these tablets only come with 16 Gb internal storage for the C: drive.

Both tablets have a quad-core 64-bit Intel Atom CPU, but they run a 32-bit version of "Windows 8.1 with Bing" - a form of Windows 8.1 optimized for tablets and smaller PCs, provided by Microsoft at no cost to manufacturers. These tablets also have a USB 3.0 socket, a micro-USB socket (intended to charge the tablet, but can also be a USB 2.0 socket with a USB On-The-Go cable), a micro-HDMI socket, WiFi (2.4 GHz only), and Bluetooth. WinBook is a private label from a chain of computer stores in some parts of the USA, MicroCenter.

I have been using these tablets and dongles to receive different signals, and have had fun with them. For working amateur satellites, the FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and HDSDR are a nice combination as a downlink receiver on these tablets. I normally use two FT-817NDs when working AO-73's transponder (among other satellites), but have been making use of these tablets with a FUNcube Dongle Pro+ and HDSDR instead of one 817 as the downlink receiver. An article about my experiences using the dongles and small tablets will appear in the March/April 2015 issue of the AMSAT Journal.

To get back on topic... is it possible that future versions of the FUNcube Dashboard lift the restriction on where it can be installed on a PC/tablet? As long as the destination has sufficient space to hold the installed program, it seems like this restriction is one that could be removed.